Google Russia forced to declare bankruptcy after bank account seizure

Out of business? In Russia, that appears to be the case. The authorities seized its bank account, making it impossible to carry on operations, as reported by the news agency.

The Russian authorities' seizure of Google Russia's bank account has made it untenable for our Russia office to function, including employing and paying Russia-based employees, paying suppliers and vendors, and meeting other financial obligations. Google Russia has published a notice of its intention to file for bankruptcy.

The regulatory filing shows that the company has been expecting to file for bankruptcy since March 22. The division did $2 billion in revenue last year, but that doesn't matter when authorities take your entire bank account.

Unlike other tech companies that have stopped doing business in Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine, Google has continued to do business in the country. There are a lot of heavy hitters still running in Russia. The ad platform was shut down in Russia after the Russian government demanded it censor ads about the war. The big card companies pulled out of Russia over the next few days, making business transactions very difficult. The payment system disruption was cited as the reason for shutting down paid apps.

It is not clear how much of a presence the company will have in Russia. Apple and Microsoft stopped paying for their services in the country before credit card companies pulled out because of the cozy relationship with Russia. If Russia gets blocked even temporarily, there might not be a market to come back to.

The Russian government still wants to use Google for some services. The government wants to keep the video-sharing website in the country, saying that a shutdown would hurt Russian citizens. In comparison to the rest of the world, there are no video sites on the same scale as in Russia.